Budget cut?  Jump on this opportunity!  The Harvard Business School Association recently contacted us to let us know that they are looking for Boston-area non-profits in need of consulting services. Volunteer consulting assistance is available in areas such as:

• strategic planning
• market research and marketing strategy
• financial planning and analysis
• board development and governance
• organizational development

Past clients include:

• ACCION International
• Boston Ballet
• Boston Partners in Education
• Boston Public Library
• Boston Running Club
• Massachusetts Audubon Society
• Project Bread
• Root Capital

To be eligible, your NPO must meet the following criteria:

• Charitable nonprofit organization with IRS 501(c)(3) status
• Located in Greater Boston
• A mission which is directed toward benefiting the community
• A minimum of three paid full-time staff as well as a board of directors
• Stable leadership in the organization
• Administrative capacity to oversee and support the consulting work
• Not currently in a crisis situation which would require a more intensive level of hands-on assistance

Applications will be reviewed this summer.  Click here for more information, or contact executive director Julia Clarkson at info@cap-hbsab.org or (617) 901.1708.

Here at Firstgiving, we work with many locally and nationally-based non-profit organizations.  Last year we helped people raise more than $30,000,000 online for more than 3500 NPOs. In addition to providing a platform for online fundraising at Firstgiving.com, our blog serves as a resource for NPOs and fundraisers.  Does your institution have a program like the one in this post?  Know of an event that NPOs in your area might also want to know about?  Leave a comment below, and we’d be happy to post it for our readers.

Maggi of Firstgiving with Ben and Maggi's mom

Hundreds of runners clad in their holiday finest stopped traffic this weekend in the 9th Annual Santa Speedo Run.

It was a crisp 29 degrees, but that didn’t stop them from running merrily, merrily through the streets to raise money for local charity Cradles to Crayons.  You can watch the video here.

Highlights:

• Runners raised over $143,000 online, compared to last year’s $90,000 (which included both online and offline fundraising).

• Top fundraising team the Philly Boys raised $4,473 online.  They get bragging rights for raising $1100 online in the 24 hours before the run.

• Anne and Claire registered last-minute and surpassed their fundraising goal in less than 8 hours.  Claire wrote about it on her blog.

• Online fundraising pages helped Cradles to Crayons far exceed their fundraising expectations, allowing them to extend their services and provide more winter coats and shoes to keep kids warm this winter.

 From the Extreme Fundraising Blog:

If you go to a practice of an NBA team like the Boston Celtics, guess what you’ll see these world champions doing? Lay-ups. Free throws. Passing drills.

The very same basketball basics they’ve been doing since elementary school!

It’s the same with raising money: if you’re not practicing the lay-ups, you’ll probably never make any amazing plays.

We couldn’t agree more.  For fundraising success in a tough economic climate, it’s important to keep your eye on the prize and invest deeply in your donors, supporters and fundraisers. 

Need help?  Putting together an event for next year?  Slides and audio from last week’s webinar, “9 things you can do now for 2009 fundraising event success,” are now up.  You can download them, too.  And as always, feel free to drop us a line if you have more questions.  We’d love to see you be a champion for your cause in 2009.

If you were in Boston this weekend, we hope you caught some of the action at the 44th annual Head of the Charles Regatta, the world’s largest 2-day rowing event.  With 55 different racing events and over 7.500 athletes from around the world, it is quite a sight to behold, especially when the weather is perfect!  

Large athletic events like the Head of the Charles are often associated with some kind of charity work, so I did some digging on their website.  Turns out that a program started in 1998 has raised over $650,000 for charity, including matching contributions from the Regatta.  

One of the Regatta’s official charities, Community Rowing, Inc., (CRI) is a public access rowing club and educational center–the largest in the U.S.!  [The Regatta's two other official charities are Access Sport America and the Cambridge Community Foundation.]  CRI has developed several particularly innovative programs for the Boston community, including beginner rowing classes, G-Row, an after-school program for girls enrolled in Boston Public Schools, and a partnership program with the Perkins School for the Blind.  

Firstgiving fundraisers have raised over $40,000 for CRI on Firstgiving.com.  One of these fundraisers is Gina Navia, who raced this weekend in a quad event and has collected over $1500 in donations for CRI’s new Adaptive Rowing Program, which launched last month.  You can read more about the program on her fundraising page.  

We’re happy to see that Gina is fundraising so successfully rather than catching crabs.  Her page is a great example of a fundraising effort that will have impact for a small, local charity.  Power ten, Gina!

Wrigley Building in Chicago

Morning fog over the carnival at Santa Monica Pier

In August, we met and listened intently to energetic and enthusiastic people just like you - in Boston, Chicago, Santa Monica, and various locations in the United Kingdom.

Listening to your stories, why you do what you do, and what works and doesn’t work for you, is one of the many reasons I LOVE my job - I am continuously inspired and humbled by you.

In the coming months, we will be taking what we have learned from you and making changes – changes that will help you raise more money than you thought possible for causes you care about… Stay tuned!

If you didn’t get a chance to meet us - no worries. We care about what you have to say, please drop us a line.

When you are a busy, working professional or student, it can sometimes be difficult to find time for everything you’d like to do. If you’re remotely like me, then you probably have a growing mental list of all the activities you’d like to do this summer. Whether it is making a trip to the beach, visiting a certain museum, or doing some good in your community, you are hoping to squeeze it all in before the leaves start to crinkle and turn brown once again. That is why social charity events are so great. You can kill two birds with one stone… or in the NPO spirit, save two endangered bird species with one charity event.

Just by searching “Boston Charity Events” with my trusty Google search engine, I stumbled upon dozens of opportunities to combine one’s weekend “party-going” with philanthropy. For instance, the Harpoon Brewery in Boston is holding a private tasting and tour on July 17th to benefit Outdoor Explorations, an non-profit organization that makes the wilderness a welcoming place for people with disabilities to explore. If you are looking for a fun family weekend excursion, there’s the Life is Good® Festival happening on the Boston Commons (July 19th from 11:00 am until 6:00 pm). Enjoy live music, tasty outdoor cooking, and an array of fun games while supporting the Boston-based NPO Project Joy. What better way to spend a day as a family than contributing to a cause that helps children affected by violence, abuse, and poverty?

These are just a few ideas of how to integrate your fun with doing a little good in the world. It doesn’t matter if you live around Boston, San Francisco, or any city in between… charity events are happening everywhere, you just need to keep your eyes and ears peeled for them!